Late the next morning, Zoey sat on a commercial flight next to Mark. They’d all spent the night in her little house. She’d felt guilty that Mark’s friends had to sleep on the floor, but they’d reassured her they’d slept in much worse places. She’d headed to bed early, unable to keep her eyes open, and didn’t even hear Mark when he came in later. She’d woken up with her nose tucked into his neck, feeling warm and cozy.
But she hadn’t been able to laze around and appreciate it, as they had to head to the airport to catch a plane to California. After packing two suitcases full of as many clothes as she could fit, she’d soon found herself boarding another plane…this one much bigger than the tiny float plane that had changed her life forever.
Mark’s teammates were sitting in the seats all around them, but that didn’t make her feel any better. It was her second flight since the crash, but she was no more relaxed than she’d been on the flight to Juneau the morning before. Her hands clenched the armrests as if that alone could keep the plane from crashing.
“Relax, Zo,” Mark said softly into her ear. He peeled her hand off the armrest between them and held it in both of his on his thigh.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “This plane is nothing like that float plane, and we didn’t crash, but I can’t help remembering how it felt when I was hunched over in the crash position, and how I thought we were going to die.”
“But we didn’t,” Mark said calmly. “We’re alive and well and we had a fun little adventure in the process.”
Zoey rolled her eyes and Mark chuckled. “There’s the Zo I know and love.”
Her heart about stopped at his words. He didn’t try to take them back, merely stared into her eyes steadily.
Had he meant it? No, he couldn’t. It was just a saying. She frantically tried to think of something to say. “Maybe I should just stay here. I mean, now that everyone knows I didn’t get all that much from Colin, I’ll be fine.”
“Breathe, Zoey,” Mark ordered. “And now that everyone knows exactly what you did get, you could be in even more danger.”
She glared at him. “How do you figure? I mean, a house isn’t exactly cash. And as much as I love that place, it needs a lot of work to update it. And five percent of his business isn’t that big of a deal.”
“Zo, five percent equals about a quarter of a million dollars. And don’t forget about the thirty-three thousand dollars in cash you’ll be getting. Don’t you pay attention to the news? Or watch that true crime channel on TV?”
“Yeah, but that’s TV. This is real life,” she said.
“Those shows are based on actual cases, you know that. People kill for way less money than you just got from Pop.”
She stared up at Mark. “But…you and Malcom got way more than I did.”
“And that’s why I warned him to be careful too.”
Zoey could hardly believe this was her life. That someone might want her dead. She still mostly thought that it had been Mark who’d been targeted though. “I can’t believe he left me anything, to be honest,” she said, trying to ignore how they were on their way to the runway.
“Why not? From everything I’ve heard, you were a big part of his life.”
“I guess.” She looked up at him. “Was Malcom really that pissed that I got anything?”
She could tell he didn’t want to admit it.
“Never mind,” she mumbled. “I know he was.”
“What is it between the two of you?” Mark asked.
Zoey sighed. “I guess it started when I broke up with him back in high school. He pretty much didn’t like me from that point forward. He also didn’t like that I spent a lot of time with your dad, but I refused to let him scare me away.”
“He scared you?” Mark asked sharply.
Zoey shook her head. “Figure of speech. He just let me know by his looks and snide comments here and there that he wished I wasn’t around. I know he tried to talk Colin out of renting me the house, but after your dad heard that I was thinking about moving in with my mom in Anchorage, he offered the house to me at an insanely low price. I knew he was giving me a huge break, and I was ashamed to have to accept, but I really didn’t want to leave.”
She blushed, then turned her head to look out the window as she felt the plane speed up and start to race down the runway.
Mark put his fingers under her chin and turned her face back to him. “Then what?”
“Then what, what?” Zoey asked.
“Did he raise your rent after a while?”
“No. But I told him to. I even started writing my rent check for more than we’d agreed on, but he always snuck cash back into my purse when I visited. So I gave up on that, but got more sneaky.” She smiled.
“How?” Mark asked.
“I started leaving money around his house. A twenty here, a ten there. Places where I didn’t think he’d notice.” She shrugged self-consciously at the tender look on his face. “I think he figured out what I was doing, but by then it was kind of a game between us. He’d pretend not to notice I was doing it, and I’d pretend I was still being sneaky about it.”
“That sounds like something Pop would do. So Malcom didn’t know about it?”
Zoey scrunched up her nose. “No. I wasn’t going to talk about my finances with him. We didn’t get along, and he wasn’t thrilled with me having such free access to Colin’s house, especially when he was still living there. But it’s not like he did a lot to help out around the place. Our relationship only got worse when I caught him with some mystery woman a couple years ago. To this day, I don’t know who it was, but he was not happy with me. I’d been looking for Colin, to get his opinion on an investment I was thinking about making, and I called the factory. Sean told me he’d gone home. So I went to his house and found Malcom there instead. Anyway, I used the key Colin had given me, and I caught the back side of a woman as she ran into the room Malcom was using. He was furious at me for walking in.
“I was embarrassed that I’d almost caught him making out on the couch. I mean, we were both in our late-twenties, it wasn’t like it should’ve been a huge deal, but he made it one. He screamed at me to get out and told me I was trespassing and I had no right to be there. When he knew very well I did have a right, as I was helping Colin out a lot, doing things that, frankly, your brother should’ve been doing. But I just left. Things were even more awkward and tense between us after that.”
“I’m sorry, Zo. That sounds stressful.”
She shrugged. “You know, I have to admit that despite all the good stuff your dad said about you, I was nervous to see you again.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid you might’ve been like Malcom. That you’d take one look at me and think I was a gold digger or something. I loved your dad, Mark. I swear I did. I never wanted anything from him but his friendship.”
“I know, I believe you. And…what did you think of me when you saw me again?” Mark asked with a grin.
Zoey knew she was blushing, but she forced herself to meet Mark’s eyes. “I recognized you immediately. I could always tell the difference between you and your brother. You carry yourself differently. You’re more confident. More…I don’t know…open? Anyway, I didn’t think you’d recognize me.”